Mail catching and delivering apparatus.



J. WOOD. MAIL GATOHING A} ID DELIVERING APPARATUS. APPLICATION IILBDNOY.6. 1908.

925, 13, Patented June 22,1909.-

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III'IE STATE% PAEN BEIGE.

JAMES WOOD, OF OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO WILLIAMEDWARDS BROWN AND ONE-THIRD TO DAVID PROVOST, OF OTTAWA, CANADA.

MAIL CATCHING AND DELIVERING AIEPARA'IUS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMEs Woon, of Ottawa, in the county of Carleton,Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Mail Catching and Delivering Apparatus, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in mail catching and deliveringapparatus, and the objects of my invention are to provide an exceedinglycheap, simple and effective means for simultaneously discharging andreceiving mail bags from a rapidly moving express train, the said meansbeing without danger to the operator in the mail car, and being positiveand reliable in action, the construction being described in detail inthe accompanying specification and drawings.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the apparatus inposition on the side of the car. Fig. 2 is a plan View of theapparatusitself, Fig. 3 is a section through the end of the hook on thedelivery arm. Fig. 4 is a section on the line 22, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is asection on the line 38, Fig. 4.

In the drawings, like characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in each figure.

Referring to the drawings, is a rotatable member journaled in bearings11 and 12 on the opposite sides of the door opening 13 in the side of asuitable mail car A.

14 represents a divergent and forwardlyextending receiving arm suitablyrigidly C011". nected to the bar 10, this being accomplished in theembodiment, illustrated, by means of a connecting member 15 cast aboutthe member 10, and having the member 14 extending into the same andfirmly connected thereto. This member may be provided with a handle 16for convenience in rotating the member 10. To retain the mail bag as itcomes against the member 14, a spring retaining arm 17 is providedconnected at the outer end 18 to the member 14, and then extending alongthe same but slightly diverging therefrom, the inner end 19 being turneduntil it is substantially parallel with the rotatable member 10, the endof said member 19 extending into and sliding in a slot 20 in the end ofthe connecting member 15. The object of this member 17 is to press themail bag against the bar 10 and to this end, spring means are providedto retain it normally in the outermost position, this being accomplishedin the embodiment Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 5, 1908.

Patented June 22, 1909.

Serial No. 461,243.

illustrated, by forming the member 17 itself of spring metal.

Connected to the inner end of the spring member is the delivering arm21, which has a hook 22 at the outer extremity thereof, on the outerturn 23 of which hook the mail bag 25 to be delivered, is supported, thestrings of the said mail bag being retained on the hook by means offingers 26 and 27 formed by bifurcating the end of an arm 28 formedintegral with the member 14. In the pre ferred embodiment of theinvention, the hook 22 extends through slots 29 and 30 in the fingers 26and 27.

In operation, the delivering arm 21 is first moved outwardly relativelyto the member 10 and then as the end 23 passes between the fingers 26and 27, the string of the mail bag 25 is looped over it and when thesaid end passes the finger 27, the bag will be held firmly on the hookand between the fingers. Vihen the car is about to pass a station, theattendant will rotate the rotatable member 10 until the divergent member14 comes to a substantially horizontal position. The bag to be caughtwill be supported from the station in a suitable releasable member andin such position as to be engaged by the divergent arm. This bag willthus be forced in between the divergent arms and the member 10 and thiswill press the spring member 17 against the member 14 moving thedelivering arm outwardly and causing the finger 26 to move the string ofthe mail bag 25 off the end of the hook 23 which will permit it to dropon to the station.

It will be observed that the apparatus for delivering the mail isoperated by the incoming mail and is positive in its action.

If desired, where no mail was to be received the attendant could deliverthe mail by moving the arm 21 outwardly himself.

What I claim as my invention is 1. A mail catching and deliveringdevice, including a rotatable member adapted to extend across an openingin the mail car, a divergent and forwardly-extending arm, a springretaining member extending along the same, and adapted to press the mailbag against the rotatable member, and a holding device for the mail bagadapted to be released by the movement of the spring mem her when itengages the bag on the station crane.

2. A mail catching and delivering device including a rotatable memberadapted to extend across an opening in the mail car, a di vergent andforwardly extending arm, a spring retaining member extending along thesame, and adapted to press the mail bag against the rotatable member, anarm connected to the spring member having a hook on the extremity of thesame and retaining fingers supported from the divergent arm normallyextending over the hook and adapted to retain the string of the bagthereon until the arm is moved outwardly by the spring member.

3. A mail catching and delivering device including a rotatable memberadapted to ex tend across an opening in the mail car, a di vergent andforwardly-extending arm, a spring retaining member extending along thesame, and adapted to press the mail bag against the rotatable member, anarm con nected to the spring member having a hook 011 the extremity ofthe same, and a retaining member extending from the divergent member andbeing provided with bifurcated ends which have slots therein throughwhich the hook may extend.

4. A mail catching and delivering device including a rotatable memberadapted to extend across an opening in the mail car, a divei'gent andfor-wardly-extending arm, a re= taining member of spring metal connectedto the outer extremity of the same and slightly diverging therefrom, andbeing adapted to press the mail bag against the rotatable member, adelivery arm connected to the spring member and means lorretaining a bagon the delivery arm adapted to be released when the said arm is movedoutwardly by the movement of the spring member.

5. A mail catching and delivering device including a rotatable memberadapted to extend across an opening in the mail car, divergent andforwardly-extending arms, a retaining member of spring metal connectedto the outer end of the arm and slightly diverging from the same, theinner end of the said spring member extending parallel with therotatable member, a delivery arm carried by the spring member and meansfor retaining a bag on the delivering arm releasable by the outwardmovement of the said delivery arm.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twowitnesses.

JAMES -WOOD.

Witnesses:

RUssEL S. SMART, l VM. A. WYMAN.

